Weight/Health Discussion

[pacdiggity]

throughout high/middle school i was lanky as all hell (i.e. 6' and 140 lb) and everyone in my family was all like "dude you gotta put on some fuckin weight you twig," and i did get anorexia comments
so then i put on weight during uni (6'4-5 and 218 lbs) and they were all like "dude why are you so fat lol,"

now i'm ~196, which is just about my ideal weight. that experience kinda totally sucked. i think i eat less now than when i did when people were telling me i was anorexic, but nobody would tell me that because i have meat on me now.

[Sophist]

the good weight is muscle weight, plain and simple

I see people on all sides of the spectrum, young and old, underweight and deathly, morbidly obese

the people who hold together the longest and still remain a youthful vigor are the people who have kept themselves in a moderate to well shape and eat right, and have genetics prone to prolonged disposition

one of these you can control, the other you can't

I've treated 75 year old women that could have told me they were 50 and i'd have believed them. Men who go on to be late 60's early 70's and are still stocky and built like a horse from keeping themselves in shape, and they still look the same as well. It keeps your skin tighter, your muscles deteriorate at a much slower rate due to the bulk itself. Your bones don't ache from carrying around excess adipose everywhere.

Even people who are slightly overweight can still fight against it, in their own way. yes, some genetic possibilities may make working out hard, difficult, or painful, but there are many ways to lose weight. People who are chunky ride it through their young life because it doesn't get any worse, your metabolism is still riding hard until you're at least mid 30's, and then it drops, and then you just gain weight faster and faster. People who are morbidly obese and can't walk without help cannot likely lose that weight, it's too late for them to really huff themselves into shape. It's possible for people around 350-400 to really, REALLY pull through, but those are success stories of will alone rather than some miracle fix.

This is something I feel so strongly about because I see these things in action, and i've literally watched obesity kill people. Just last week we had to take 2 units to the hospital just to transport someone to a rehabilitation hospital. He'd passed out last week and didn't wake up, turns out he was having a heart attack that almost went undiagnosed. The man was 650lb, and had to have a special tube through a tracheotomy, one built long enough for him, and now breathes through that on a ventilator. He will never recover, and he will eventually die from complications. There is no hope for that man to lose any of that weight. He had bed sores and MRSA from just laying around for so long. He looked like he was knocking on death's door. He was 37.

People who are overweight just slide into a decline of health later in life. The people who are always the hardest on are the heaviest. Sure, skinny people have emergencies too, but never to the numerous amounts of someone who is obese, and often never the same kind of emergencies that they have. Heart conditions, diabetes, a general unpleasant life. People who weigh too much don't ever seem happy to me. They're burdened with themselves and don't feel they can change it.

Being in shape is a force of will. You owe it to yourself to keep yourself in a prime shape so that later in life you are rewarded with a body that doesn't turn and betray you with age. I hope to be sliding into 70 and still be in shape, if my heart condition lets me make it there. I've seen the difference and i'd be on the cusp of starting a religion of fitness if people could see what i've seen through my eyes. Working out is hard but once you start getting in shape and losing fat, it's as easy and extremely enjoyable. I love going to the gym, it's a great hobby to weightlift and work out now. Don't let your dreams be dreams.

Yesterday you said tomorrow.

Just

DO IT

[yuyu!]

^^^
Everyone in the world should read that post right now


I know I've sort of pitched the whole DDP Yoga thing 10,000 times by now, but it really is a great option, even/especially for obese people. He designed the work out with rehab moves, flexibility training, muscle building, and fat burning in mind (etc). It's all about pushing your body to your own limits and getting stronger and more flexible each day - which is why it works for pretty much everyone. It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

People get too discouraged by the long road and don't appreciate the baby steps enough. We all want fast results, but the real reward is in knowing that you earned it. Sophist is right -- tomorrow is too far away.


Change

must

happen

now

[yuyu!]

and with that, I need sleep .__.

[Jules]

But actually, I also feel bad for skinny girls. They are also quite often a victim of the pursuit of the "perfect female body" - sometimes even more so than their non-skinny friends.

Absolutely! My mom was tiny, always. She could eat me under the table and never gain a pound. And she struggled with her weight just as much as I do.  I didn't mean to insinuate that they should only put the bigger women on magazine covers. I just mean that they should put ALL body types on them. Not just one

Body shaming is dumb, no matter what size you are.


The morbidly obese people that insist nothing is wrong with them are dumb though. If you're too big to leave your bed, it's your fucking fault, not your "metabolism" or "genetics".

YES

People who weigh too much don't ever seem happy to me.

I agree with everything you said, save this line. I will go ahead and admit that in with the theme of your entire piece, I can see your point. But I feel like you misplaced healthy with happy.  My current weight is 303lbs. That is very, very hard to type. When I started trying to lose weight I was at 312lbs. I lost down to 289, then my mom died and I yoyoed back up to 313. Then I started over again last month and I've lost 9 lbs so far.  At no time during any of this was I .. well I don't know how to say it. Unhappy in the way that you seem to imply.  Unhealthy? Yes, very.


And just since we're on the topic, I'm not trying to diet any more. I've tried dieting it doesn't work. Right now my only goals are to drink more water, eat more veggies, and move more. I have a fitbit to keep track of my steps, each day I try to do a little more. Some days I do good, some days I do bad.  I didn't get this way in a day, and I'm not expecting to fix it in a day.


Ps. I also have no problem with you guys checking up on me. Accountability keeps me motivated

[bluntsword]

You got this Jules. You are awesome!

I have only recently begun to do more than run for working out sake.

I could say that working out makes me unhappy. But I know the benefits far outweigh the effort. Still, it's better to hit the gym than to hit the keyboard.

Sigh.

[yuyu!]

Jules - it sounds like you've found out what works best for you, and that's awesome! I also struggled to find a diet plan that would work for me. I recently started to count calories, which is oddly fun to me (in a challenging kind of way). o.o For food, I'm picking stuff that isn't specifically diet - just portions and snack cups and stuff that has the calories clearly marked. It's not the best plan, but it's helped me remove 8lbs this month (including a little cheating for events and birthdays). The problem that I used to have with losing weight is wasting my energy trying to make a fast change or over-do things... Once I started using healthy calorie calculators (loseit.com is my favorite!), I've been able to set a modest plan that doesn't leave me feeling starved and tempted to cheat.

I could say that working out makes me unhappy. But I know the benefits far outweigh the effort. Still, it's better to hit the gym than to hit the keyboard.

Awwww...you go, bluntsword! Exercise can be fun, I guess it just depends on what works for you. Then again...I do know some people that don't like any type of exercise at all. :B

[bluntsword]

Awwww...you go, bluntsword! Exercise can be fun, I guess it just depends on what works for you. Then again...I do know some people that don't like any type of exercise at all. :B

Thanks yuyu. I'm just trying be a healthy dad who is strong enough to play with his kids!